CBS has come under scrutiny after a formal complaint was filed with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), alleging misleading edits during Vice President Kamala Harris’s 60 Minutes interview. The network has been accused of editing Harris’s responses in a way that misrepresents her position on issues related to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Maria Bartiromo, host of Fox Business, addressed the controversy with FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, who explained the gravity of the situation, during a Tuesday interview on FOX Business’ “Mornings With Maria.” “My SEC colleague, Republican Commissioner Simington, has been very active on this,” Carr said. “What he’s pointed out is the news distortion rule is a very, very narrow rule at the FCC. In almost every case, it doesn’t apply because it could get into sort of editorial decisions that are protected by the First Amendment. But what he said is that CBS should release the transcript.”
“The reason why this complaint is not frivolous is because the rules say, for instance, the example we’ve given is, if you take an answer to a question that is a yes, and you replace the answer of no from a different question, that that’s something that would potentially fall within the news distortion rule,” Carr said. “I don’t think this needs to be a federal case, because I think CBS should release it [transcript], and then that would inoculate entirely CBS from that FCC complaint.” He went on to add, “In fact, I know people are reaching out to their local affiliates right now, asking them if they would release that transcript.”
The complaint, filed by the conservative watchdog group Center for American Rights, alleges that CBS edited Vice President Harris’s 60 Minutes interview in a way that misrepresented her comments on the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. In the original clip, Harris was seen struggling to respond to questions about the conflict, but this portion was notably absent from the final broadcast.
WATCH:
The interview, conducted by CBS correspondent Bill Whitaker, was intended to highlight Harris’s foreign policy expertise, a crucial aspect as she navigates her 2024 presidential campaign. Whitaker asked, “But it seems that Prime Minister Netanyahu is not listening.” In response, Harris said, “Well, Bill, the work that we have done has resulted in a number of movements in that region by Israel that were very much prompted by or a result of many things, including our advocacy for what needs to happen in the region… We are not going to stop pursuing what Is necessary for the United States to be clear about where we stand on the need for this war to end.”
WATCH:
Remember Kamala’s word salad answer about Israel on 60 Minutes? It’s gone.
This is what many Americans will now see. pic.twitter.com/H4w7btDv6x
— MAZE (@mazemoore) October 8, 2024
Harris’s response, which some described as incoherent, faced significant backlash on social media, with many accusing the vice president of dodging the question and failing to provide any meaningful insight into the administration’s plans for resolving the conflict. However, the aired version of the interview omitted this entire segment, replacing it with a much shorter and more polished response from Harris. The Center for American Rights (CAR) asserted that these discrepancies “amount to deliberate news distortion—a violation of FCC rules governing broadcasters’ public interest obligations.”
Disclaimer: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.